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PS360 Syllabus - Political Parties and Voting Behavior
Professor Russell Renka - Fall 2000

Introduction
PS360 Course Books and Readings
Course Requirements
Course Expectations
Journal Resources
Reaching me
Weekly Topics and Readings

Introduction                                   Top

    This is a mainline upper-division political science course on topics at the very core of the practice of democratic politics:  the creation and maintenance of political parties, and the conduct of competitive elections for public office.  These are not separate topics, for parties are essential in every democracy (but not in non-democracies) to running elections and governing the polity.  Parties are currently regarded with great suspicion by most middle-class Americans, yet we have found no alternative to them.

    First up is why political parties are essential parts of a democracy.  We start with answers to that, emphasizing the peculiar 160-year American tradition of having just two national political parties with a realistic chance for each to elect a President and control the national Congress.  It is fairly unusual among democracies to do this, as we shall see.  We take a comparative look at party systems (contrasting American to foreign systems) and a historical one (evaluating past American party practices).  We distinguish parties from other political entities such as interest groups, factions, and ad hoc political coalitions.  We look at parties as organizations, which run elections, including the complicated American national primary system.  We look at the byzantine financing arrangements of parties and candidates.  We look directly at national and state elections, with intensive review of recent national results.  We study voters and nonvoters, together with the business of polling by which we learn about it.  We look at parties-in-government, as the central organizing entity of the national legislature and most state assemblies.  Finally, we look closely at the current and future relevance of political parties in the American polity.

Course Books and Readings:             Top

The text, available through Textbook Service, is:  Maisel, L. Sandy.  1999.  Parties and Elections in America:  The Electoral Process.  3d edition.  Lanham, MD:  Rowman & Littlefield.   In the Itinerary, this is labeled "Text."  {For more on the book, see http://rowmanandlittlefield.com. and Sandy Maisel's PARTIES AND ELECTIONS IN AMERICA.}

The reader, available at Southeast Bookstore, is:  Maisel, L. Sandy, ed.  1998.   The Parties Respond:  Changes in American Parties and Campaigns, 3d ed.  Boulder, CO:  Westview Press.  In the Itinerary, this is labeled "Reader."

Additional readings come from reserve readings at Kent Library, website materials, journal articles, and occasional in-class handouts.

PS360 Course Requirements                  Top

One can earn up to 1000 credit points in the course.  These divide among four categories:

            600 points - three exams worth 200 points each

            200 points - term paper

            100 points - classroom assignments, roundtables

            100 points - Ultimate Bulletin Board

Examinations:  Each examination has two 100-point sections.  First is an in-class objective type of exam consisting of multiple-choice questions derived from readings and class lecture/discussion (100 points).  Second is a take-home essay of some two and a half to three pages on a specified topic (also 100 points).  The final is not comprehensive; rather, it is really exam no. 3 on the third and last section of the course.  Total valuation of exams is 600 points.

Term Papers :  Follow the “ten and ten” rule.  A term paper should be an honest 10-pager with ten or more sources.  Shorter papers and those with few sources are typically the result of casual or last minute efforts.  No one could use that approach to successfully perform in a play, run well in a distance race, maintain a great love relationship, or rise to a new and higher job in the work world.  Neither can a good paper be written that way.  I expect you to select a topic and clear it with me.  You can start this at any time not later than times outlined below.  Here are dates for steps toward completion of the term paper:

            °Monday, September 18 (start of Week 5):  due date for topic selection
            °Monday, October 16 (Week 9):  deadline for topical outline plus sources (with a minimum of ten separate sources).
            °Monday, November 20 (Week 14):  deadline for submitting drafts (I will review and amend a draft if you choose to turn one in.  This is not required and does not involve a grade, but is just about guaranteed to make for a better final paper!)
            °Friday, December 1:  final paper deadline (Seem far away?  It really isn't!)

Term paper value is 200 points.

In-class assignments: do evaluate class participation, usually by posing a problem or question derived from readings and asking you to respond.  I illustrate something using websites and ask for judgment about it in the next session.  There's no substitute for being on hand when this happens.  We'll include a formal roundtable on the national election in which each person will author forecasts and judgments on the outcomes.  We'll then reconvene after November 7 for a "post-mortem."   Total valuation is 100 points.

Bulletin Board participation:  Every PS360 student is expected to read the Ultimate Bulletin Board and make periodic postings there. See Posting on the Board for getting registered and started on the Board.  This site will include material on the presidential primaries, on the material covered in class, and on other political happenings in the news.  It's an ideal place to post queries about what something in lecture or readings is about, and will help cut down on excessive e-mail.  I'll inventory participation and periodically post it on an entry slot in GradeA Gradebook.  Credit applies only to meaningful participation, that is, saying something that contributes to furtherance of a conversation on one or more appropriate topics.    Board Value is 3 points per meaningful posting, up to 100 points total.

PS360 Course Expectations:           Top

Attendance :  You are expected to attend each class session unless there’s a valid reason to miss (i.e., personal illness or ill child, death in immediate family, motorcycle wreck, full blown Midwestern blizzard, New Madrid Fault disturbance of 6.0 or greater magnitude on Richter Scale).  We often use class discussion for short writing assignments and/or assignments to find relevant information from journals, the library, or websites.  Some of these are impromptu, and it’s often difficult or impossible to compensate by asking later that I email you the assignment details.  Use email or telephone voice mail to advise me if you will miss or have missed class.  On being late:  just come on in.  I don’t encourage deliberate lateness, but traffic, weather, and professors in earlier classes all can cause you to arrive at six after the hour.

On plagiarism :  You should review the Student Handbook on the problem of plagiarism.  Most of you are familiar with the chronic problem of someone passing off another’s work as his or her own, yet it still crops up with distressing regularity.  I cannot accept any work except your own.  In academic circles, proper recognition of authorship is the coin of the realm.  We are all required to maintain the currency.  Distinguish what's yours from what is borrowed from and attributed to someone else.

Journal Resources:                                  Top

    The best work on political parties and elections is in the broadly defined political science journals.  These are filled with articles on topics relevant to us.  Chief among them are American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, American Politics Quarterly, and Political Research Quarterly.  Also see Parties and Elections.

     Among monthly magazine journals, nuts-and-bolts practice of politics by campaign professionals is shown in Campaigns and Elections.  Weekly journals of considerable value for regular Washington watchers are Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report (for stuff from the Hill, chiefly), and National Journal (especially useful for stuff “downtown” in the executive agencies and White House).  All are on Kent Library open shelves except CQWR, which is behind the Periodicals counter.

Reaching me:            Top

    I have an open door policy, and can very often be found at or near my office computer.  My office is Room 211L in the Department of Political Science office suite on Floor 2 of the Carnahan (Social Science) Building.  You can leave messages for me there if I am absent.  In general, I can be reached as follows:

a)      Leave a message at my Department mailbox or with the department office.

b)      Leave a message at the drop outside my door at Carnahan 211L.

c)      Place a voice mail message at 573)651-2692.

d)      Email me at rdrenka@semo.edu.

e)      If you’re out of town and cannot send a paper or assignment by email, then FAX it to 573/651-2695.

f)    Consult my website at Home Page (or http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/renka) for other details about myself and my courses, including this syllabus.

PS360 Weekly Topics and Readings - Fall 2000           Top

Week 1 - August 21-25, 2000
    What are parties?  Why are they essential in democracies?
         °Maisel text (Text), Ch. 1 - Elections and Political Parties, pp. 2-28
        ° Silbey, J. in Maisel Reader, Ch. 1 - Rise and Fall of American Parties, 1790-2000.....pp. 3-19

Week 2 - August 28-September 1
    Creation and growth of the American two-party system
        °Text Ch. 2 - The Development of the American Parties, pp. 30-63
        °Website source review
        °Comparative perspective on parties in democracy--presentation by Prof. Alynna Lyon

Week 3 - September 5-8    (M, September 4:  Labor Day holiday, no class)  
    Political parties as organizations
        °Text Ch. 3 - Party Organization, pp. 66-90      
        °Bibby, J. in Maisel Ch. 2 - State Party Organizations ..., pp. 23-49

Week 4 - September 11-15
    The national party organizations
         ° Herrnson, P. in Maisel Ch. 3 - National Party Organizations at the Century's End, pp. 50-82

Week 5 - September 18-22 **
     Political participation
        °Text, Ch. 4 - Political participation, pp. 92-123

            **Examination No. 1 - Friday, September 22

Week 6 - September 25-29
    The voters and nonvoters
        °Text, Ch. 5 - Theories of Voting Behavior, pp. 126-155
        ° Miller, W. in Maisel Ch. 5 - Party Identification and the Electorate of the 1990s.....pp. 109-127
        ° Wattenberg article in October 1998 issue of The Atlantic, entitled Should Election Day Be a Holiday? - 98.10.

Week 7 - October 2-6
    Organized groups
        °Text, Ch. 6 - Organized Groups in the Political Process, pp. 158-185
        °Stone, W. and Rapoport, R., in Maisel Ch. 4 - ... Nomination Activists and the Process of Party Change, pp. 83-105
        
Week 8 - October 9-11  (October 12-13:  Fall Break, no classes)
     Party alignment and ideology
        ° Abramowitz. A. and Saunders, K. in Maisel Ch. 6 - Party Polarization and Ideological Realignment..., pp. 128-143

Week 9 - October 16-20
      Elections other than the presidency
        °Text, Ch. 7 - State and Local Nominations, pp. 188-217
        °Text, Ch. 8 - State and Local Elections, pp. 220-263

Week 10 - October 23-27    **                 
    Presidential Nominations
        °Text, Ch. 9 - Presidential Nominations, pp. 266-317
        °Dodenhoff, D. and Goldstein, K.  Resources, Racehorses, and Rules:  Nominations in the 1990s.....pp. 170-201
        °The pre-primary period in presidential elections
        °Primary Predictions

    **Friday, Oct. 27 - Examination no. 2**

Week 11 - October 30-November 3
    Presidential Elections
        °Text, Ch. 10 - Presidential Elections, pp. 320-369
        °Crotty, W. in Maisel Ch. 9 - ..Parties in the 1996 Election:  The Party as Team or the Candidates as Superstars?.....pp. 202-224

Week 12 - November 6-10 (National Election:  Tuesday, Nov. 7)
    It's a Candidate-centered System
        °review of election results

Week 13 - November 13-17
    Money, money, more money
        °Text, Ch. 11 - Campaign Financing, pp. 372-415
        °Sorauf, F. in Maisel Ch. 10 - Political Parties and the New World of Campaign Finance, pp. 225-242

Week 14 - November 20-21 ( W through F:  Thanksgiving Break)
    The parties in the media
        °Text, Ch. 12 - The Media and the Electoral Process, pp. 418-443
        °Kerbel, M. in Maisel Ch. 13 - Parties in the Media:  Elephants, Donkeys, Boars, Pigs, and Jackals.....pp. 243-259

Week 15 - November 27-December 1
    The party in the Congress
        °Text, Ch. 13 - The Party in Government, pp. 446-481
        °Sinclair, B. in Maisel Ch. 12 - ...Policy-oriented Congressional Parties in the 1990s, pp. 263-285

    The Abandonment of cross-party coalitions
        °Brady, D. and Buckley, K. in Maisel Ch. 13 - Coalitions and Policy in the U.S. Congress:  Lessons from the 103rd and 104th Congresses.....pp. 286-315

Week 16 - December 4-8
    The Future of Parties in a Candidate-centered Democracy
        °Text, Ch. 14, Conclusions:  The Role of Political Parties at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century, pp. 484-499
        °Shribman, D.  in Maisel, Ch. 15 - Era of Pretty Good Feelings:  The Middle Way of Bill Clinton ..., pp. 341-355

    Presidential appointments and prerogatives
        °MacKenzie, C. in Maisel, Ch. 14 - Partisan Presidential Leadership:  The President's Appointees, pp. 316-337

Final Examination Week:  Examination is 12:00-2:00 p.m., Wednesday, December 13.
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